The Letters of Hermann Hesse Publisher: Shanghai People's Publishing House

Introduction · · · · · ·
☆ Everyone loves Hesse! A spiritual friend of young people all over the world, a Nobel Prize winner in literature who will always belong to the younger generation

☆ "Don't go with the flow. The most important thing for us in this world is to be ourselves!" Listen to Hesse and be yourself

☆ The Chinese version of 278 letters is presented, showing the life course and spiritual transformation of a great master

☆ Experiencing three marriages, overcoming creative crises, helping friends when in poverty, losing his homeland... all the details about Hesse are here

☆ Learn about Hesse's love for China: he was devoted to Zen Buddhism, loved Chinese culture, and admired Fou Cong's musical talent

The translator selected representative letters from Hesse's 70 years of letters from 1892 to 1962, mainly including Hesse's personal growth and development, changes in his family and thoughts, his pursuit, struggle and creative process, daily letters with his parents, wife, children and sisters, participation in social public activities, and interactions with contemporaries such as Zweig, Romain Rolland, Thomas Mann, and others, as well as his observations and insights on the individual and the collective, writing, literature, current affairs, war, and society. These letters bear witness to Hesse's life and experiences from youth to old age, and also present the trajectory of more than half a century of historical alternations and cultural changes.

In these letters, Hesse sometimes talks about his views on literary and artistic works, sometimes expresses his opinions on social issues, and sometimes describes natural scenery and expresses his feelings about life in prose. These letters restore Hesse to the era he lived in and present a three-dimensional spiritual world that intersects with his contemporaries.

Hesse's works are inspiring, powerful and insightful, and also provide examples of lofty humanitarian ideals and noble style.

——Nobel Prize in Literature Award Speech

Hesse represents an ancient, genuine, pure and spiritual Germany. His writings are full of humanitarian spirit and love for humanity.

— Thomas Mann, German writer

Decades before my generation, Hermann Hesse sensed our inner turmoil, our inherent need in youth to find our own way—each of us must claim what is rightfully our own: our own life.

—Paulo Coelho, Brazilian writer

Hesse is a writer who always belongs to the younger generation... When reading Hesse's works, one often feels as if he is writing about ourselves, as if we wrote it all ourselves.

——Volker Michels, editor and researcher of Hesse’s works